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Friday, February 20, 2015

Britain's Coptic Christian community 'scared to be in UK' after Libya killings

Among Britain’s Coptic Christians there was a sense of stupefied
horror, as film of the murder of 21 Egyptian Copts, at the hands of Isis
in Libya sent shock waves throughout the community.

The video of the mass beheading of the 21 prisoners in Libya was
released on Sunday, but for days images of captives in regulation orange
uniforms, paraded by black-clad gunmen had haunted the international
community.

“We have met this news with sorrow and disbelief – although people
saw this coming there was a hope that something could be done to change
the outcome,” said Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom. “When it came it was so heartless and inhumane.”

Angaelos, head of the orthodox Christian community in the UK,
received a call from the prime minister, who expressed his condolences
for the murder of the guest workers, who were kidnapped in Sirte, on
Libya’s coast, by Isis members in December and January. A video made of
the murders titled “a message signed in blood to the people of the
cross’, makes reference to the “hostile Egyptian Church”.

“The prime minister focused on the fact that these actions are
unacceptable by the principles we live by in this country,” he said.

That may come of little consolation to UK Coptic Christians, most of whom have relatives in Egypt, some from the very same villages and provinces as the killed hostages.

Egyptian Coptic Christians are the largest Christian community in the
Middle East, with an estimated 10-15 million members in Egypt – around
10% of the population. Coptics follow an orthodox strand of Christianity
which requires them to closely follow the church’s dogma, which
includes fasting for some part of 210 days a year. They formed a
community in the UK in the 60s, which now has around 20,000 members.
Many of them are now living in fear, said Father Antonious Thabet, a
priest at St Mark’s church in Kensington.

“We are very scared, some people in my congregation have said they
are scared to be in the UK – these people are everywhere,” he said.
“There is anger against leaders who did nothing. They have to do
something, saying that we are sorry this had happened is not enough.”

Special services will be held in Coptic churches throughout the UK
this week, while peaceful demonstrations of solidarity are planned for
the weekend. Magda Sakr, an Egyptian muslim who has lived in the UK for
20 years will be among the mourners.

“People are trying to separate Christian and Muslims, but we are all
Egyptian,” she said, fighting back tears. “These people have nothing to
do with Islam, they are maniacs. This is not about religion, it is about
standing up for humanity.”

Her friend, Shenouda Shalaby, a doctor at Ealing hospital and a
member of Father Antonious congregation, said the world needed to wake
up. “We are not fighting an invasion – this ideology is already here, it
is spreading like a cancer,” he said. “To be frank this is only the tip
of the iceberg. Unless the world unites, it will be a disaster for all
of us.”